THE Honourable Artillery Company are
said to be the oldest Volunteer force in Great Britain.
They have an unbroken record running back to the old
Fraternity of Aitillery or Gunners of the Tower, who
received a charter of incorporation from Henry VIII. in
1537. At various times, and notably during the great
struggle with Napoleon and the French, the patriotic
spirit showed itself strongly in the formation of
Volunteer Corps. Sir Walter Scott well describes this
outburst of national enthusiasm (1804) in his novel of "
The Antiquary." In a note, he says : " Almost every
individual was enrolled either in a military or civil
capacity, for the purpose of contributing to resist the
long-suspended threats of invasion which were echoed from
every quarter. Beacons were erected along the coast and
all through the country to give the signal for every one
to repair to the post where his peculiar duty called him,
and men of every description fit to serve held themselves
in readiness on the shortest summons." Strathspey was not
behind in this crisis, and the man to lead was not
lacking. "At a period when many of the Highland
proprietors, actuated by a violent frenzy for improvement,
were driving whole districts of people from the abodes of
their forefathers, and compelling them to seek for that
shelter in a foreign land which was denied them in their
own;

when
absenteeism and the vices of courtly intrigue amid
fashionable dissipation had sapped the morality of too
many of our landholders, Sir James Grant escaped the
contagion, and, during a long life, was distinguished for
the possession of those virtues which are the surest
bulwarks of the peace, happiness, and strength of a
country. Possessed of extensive estates, and
surrounded by a numerous tenantry, his exertions seemed to
be equally devoted to the progressive improvement of the
one, and the present comfort and enjoyment of the other.
On the declaration of the War in 1793, Sir James was among
the first, if not the very first, to step forward in the
service of his country with a regiment of Fencibles, raised almost
exclusively among his own tenantry"—(Kay’s " Portraits "). Rev. John
Grant (O. S. A., 1793) says, with some pride: ‘‘It is
peculiar to this parish to have two heritors who have got
each a Fencible Regiment, the Duke of Gordon and Sir James
Grant, and who have not only raised them in three weeks
and a few days, but have each of them supernumeraries for
additional companies in forming a considerable part of
second battalions, if Government should need them and all
recruited in an easy, discreet, and smooth manner, without
force or compulsion. Men so pleasantly got, and so content
when well used, cannot miss of giving satisfaction to
their officers, and may he relied on by the nation."

The Grant
Fencibles were assembled at Forres in the end of April,
1793, inspected by Lieutenant-General Leslie on the 5th
June, and marched southward in August. They were quartered
successively in several of the most important towns, and
disbanded in 1799. Everywhere they gained praise for their
manly appearance and good conduct; but one unfortunate
incident marred the perfectness of their service. At
Dumfries, in 1795, a spirit of discontent had been
awakened amongst the men, as they distrusted some of their
officers, and dreaded that there was a design to entrap
them into foreign service. There had been some trouble
with tinkers, and, in arresting them, several men were
badly hurt. Shortly after, a soldier in the ranks made
some jocular remark, which was resented by the officers,
and he was arrested and threatened with corporal
punishment. This was regarded as an affront. The men could
not endure that such a stain should " attach to
themselves, and their country, from an infamous punishment
for crimes, according to their views, not in themselves
infamous in the moral sense of the word" (Colonel
Stewart). The result was that some of the soldiers banded
together and released the prisoner. Sir James Grant was,
unfortunately, absent. He hurried south, hut was too late
to prevent the tragic issue. The regiment was marched to
Musselburgh, and there
five of the men, Corporal James Macdonald, and Privates
Charles and Alexander Mackintosh, Alexander Fraser, and
Duncan Macdougall, were tried for mutinous conduct, and, being found guilty, were
condemned, one to corporal punishment, and the other four
to he shot. The sentence was executed at the Links of
Gullane on the 16th July, 1795, in the presence of the
Scotch Brigade (afterwards the 94th Regiment) and the
Sutherland, Breadalbane, and Grant Fencibles. it must have
been a sad and distressing scene. The four men, when set
before their countrymen, were told that only two were to
suffer. Macdougall was reprieved, and the Mackintoshes
were to cast lots as to which should suffer. The fatal lot fell on
Charles, and he and Fraser were forthwith shot. Fraser was
from Abernethy, and it is said that at the first he was
only severely wounded, and that he cried out, in Gaelic,
in his agony, "Surely there is some Fraser present to put
me out of pain." The response came quick, but few knew who
had fired the friendly shot.

The Fericibles were
followed by the Strathspey Battalion of Volunteers, or The
Armed Association, as it was called. The first meeting was
held at Grantown, 24th
July, 1798. In Abernethy there were two Companies, the
Eastern and the Western. The Eastern was commanded by
Captain Robert Lawson, Balliemore, with Alexander
Carmichael, Congash, and John Dunbar, Glenlochy, as
Lieutenants. It numbered 79 men, entered according to the
Davochs of the parish—Congash, 9; Glenlochv, 3;
Achnagonaline and Lainchile, 11 ; Drum and Muckrach, 11 ;
Ballifurth, 11 ; Lettoch, 22 ; Balliemore, 12. The Western
Company had 80 enrolled, and the officers were James
Grant, Birchfield, Captain; and John Grant, Lettoch, and
John Grant, Gartenmore, Lieutenants. The Sergeants were
Ronald Macgregor, Grantown, Drill Sergeant; Charles Grant,
Coulnakyle; Charles Grant, Lurg; William Grant, Rothiemoon;
Alexander Cameron, Dibonig; and John Smith, Gartenmore.
There was a third Company in Kincardine. It was at first
commanded by Mr John Peter Grant of Rothiemurchus, and
subsequently by Mr Duncan Mackintosh, Dell. Mr John
Stewart, Pytoulish, was one of the Ensigns, and his
commission, dated 9th January, 1799, runs as follows:-

George the Third, by
the grace of Cod, King of Great Britain, France, and
Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c., to our trusty and
well-beloved John Stewart, gent. Greeting:

We do by these
presents constitute and appoint you to be Second
Lieutenant to the Kincairn Volunteers, whereof John Peter
Grant, Esq., is Captain. but not to take rank in our Army
except during the time of the said Corps being called out
into actual service. You are, therefore, carefully and
diligently to discharge the duty of Second Lieutenant by
exercising and well-disciplining both the inferior
officers and soldiers of that Company, and we do hereby
command them to obey you as their Second Lieutenant; and
you are to observe and follow such orders and directions
from time to time as you shall receive from your Captain,
or any other your superior officers, according to the
Rules and Discipline of war, in pursuance of the trust
hereby reposed in you, &c."

The commission is
signed at the top by the King, and at the end by the Duke
of Portland. The Volunteers were disbanded in 1814, and a
vote of thanks was passed to them in the House of Commons,
to which the following letters refer

"THE DOUNE, 20th August, 1814.

"Dear Sir,—I have
the utmost pleasure in transmitting a copy of a letter I
have received from the Lord-Lieutenant accompanying the
thanks of the House of Commons to the Strathspey
Volunteers; and I have to request that you will take steps
to make this communication as generally known as possible
to the officers and privates lately comprising your
Company.—I have the honour to be, with great regard, dear
Sir, your most obedient humble servant,

(Signed) J. P. Grant."

This letter is
addressed Duncan Mackintosh, Esq., late Captain,
Strathspey Volunteers, The Dell. The circular from the
Lord-Lieutenant is as follows

CASTLE Geiav, 4th August, 1814.

"It is with time
greatest pleasure that I obey the command of the House of
Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, intimated through theIr Speaker, by transmitting
you the annexed vote of thanks in
order to it being communicated to all the members of the
late Strathspey Volunteer Battalion."

The resolution of
the House of Commons is dated 6th July, 1814, and is to
the following effect:—-

That the thanks of
this House be given to the officers of the several Corps
of Yeomanry and Volunteer Cavalry and Infantry which have
been formed in Great Britain and Ireland during the course
of the war for the seasonable and eminent services winch
they have rendered to their King and country."

There is also a
similar vote of thanks to the non-commissioned officers
and men of the several corps. A Silver Cup, with the
Mackintosh arms, was presented to Captain Mackintosh by
the Kincairn Volunteers for his services; and a massive
Silver Bowl was presented to Captain Lawson, Balliemore.
The latter bears the following inscription :—" Presented
by the Eastern Abernethy Volunteer Company to Robert
Lawson, Esq., their Captain, as a testimony of their
regard for his zealous attention to their Discipline and
Welfare. 15 May, 1802." This cup had a somewhat curious
history. It was left by Mr Lawson to his nephew,
Lieutenant-Colonel Carmichael,’ whose father was a
Lieutenant of the Company, and by him it was bequeathed to
the Parish Church as a Baptism Bowl, and it has now the
additional inscription :—-" Bequeathed to the Parish
Church of Abernethy by Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis
Carmichael, who died at Forres, 1844." Thus the old
prophecy (Isaiah ii., 4) may be said to have been
fulfilled in the spirit, if not in the letter: They shall
beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into
pruning-hooks."

The modern Volunteer
movement was begun in 1859, in consequence of a circular
letter from Colonel Jonathan Peel proposing a National
Volunteer Association, and by the end of the year many
thousands were enrolled in all parts of the kingdom. In
June, 1860, the Queen reviewed 18,450 volunteers in Hyde
Park; and in August, over 20,000 were reviewed by Her
Majesty at Edinburgh. In 1864 the Volunteer force was
estimated at 165,000, and it is now over 220,000.
Abernethy, with Duthil, was the first to form a Company in
Strathspey (1860-1), and the officers were Captain Duncan
Menzies and Lieutenant J. Stewart. This Company has been
well maintained, and has gained honours for shooting and
efficiency. It has for some years been under the command
of Major Cumming, Curr. In 1888 a Church Parade was held
in the Parish Church of Abernethy, when there were present
61 men from Grantown, and 42 from Abernethv and Duthil.
The Rev. Mr Forsyth conducted a special service for the
occasion, preaching from 1st Timothy, vi. and 12th. He
concluded with a brief address to the following effect :—"
Volunteers—The name is significant. It implies that you
serve not for hire but for love. Your Companies are made
up, not of strangers, but of neighbours and friends. You
meet not only in the field, but at the fireside, and in
the common business of life. Though soldiers, you do not
cease to be citizens. Besides, you form part of one great
force, drawn from all ranks of society—subject to the same
discipline, animated by the common feeling of love to our
dear fatherland. How then can you best fulfil your duty ?
It is by each of you being true for himself to his country
and his God. First, each must do his part to the best of
his ability in the ranks. Then each must strive to live an
honest and pure life in his own home. And, further, you
must each of you carry into society a high standard of
right, resolved that come what will you will always keep
to the truth, support the weak, he the redresser of wrong,
and the champion of woman, and do your best to hold up to
reverence the idea of a chivalrous and noble manhood. Are
you willing, in the name of Christ, to consecrate
yourselves to this cause, to take part in this glorious
campaign ? If so, be of good courage. ‘Stand fast.’ ‘Fight
the good fight of faith; lay hold of eternal life.’"

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